Edinburgh fringe pays out £115k after metal skewered steward’s eye

The organisers of Edinburgh’s fringe festival have agreed to pay £115,000 in damages to a former steward after a piece of jagged metal hit him in the eye.

George Eaton was injured in August 2008 while trying to dismantle a stall in Princes Street Gardens in the city after the structure had blown over in the wind.

The damaged section of the stall’s collapsible frame, which folded away in a scissor-like action, had been torn off by another steward, leaving an end of twisted and jagged metal.

As this sprung up, it struck Eaton in the eye, leaving him with lacerations to his cornea, which needed surgery.

In a statement to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, his lawyers said Eaton had been left at a disadvantage in the job market because of his lack of vision and that if he were to become blind, he would be virtually unemployable.

Eaton sued the Festival Fringe Society for loss of earnings and employability, as well as compensation.

The Society admitted liability and agreed to make a payout. Eaton had originally claimed £225,000, but was eventually awarded £115,000, plus expenses.

The injury has given Eaton an increased risk of blindness through developing sympathetic ophthalmitis, which is an inflammation of both eyes following trauma to one eye.

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